Gelinas as a forward

I don't want to deal Gelinas because even though I think it's unlikely, he could be a special player. He brings something no one in the Devils organization does. They've got a lot of good D in the system but none of them look to be potentially elite offensive players at the NHL level. Severson, Merrill, Larsson - if these guys make the NHL, they'll be decent to good offensively, but none of them is going to bring what Gelinas brings.

Honestly with the glut of defensemen coming through our system and his defensive shortcomings that may or may not be fixed, why not use him as trade bait?

Yeah I also thought this in the beginning of the season when he was at the top of his game. I think this is a good idea if you can bring in a foward with equal potential. We have an abundance of defensive prospects and close to no offensive prospects. Gelinas for shinkaruk or lazar is okay with me. Or gelinas for coutorier(sp), although I would imagine philly would want more, and lou wouldnt deal with philly so im wasting my breath.

Why would I want Gelinas as a forward? Why not sign a halfway decent forward instead? The only skills I like that Gelinas has are his offensive-defensive skills. If you move him to forward, you even kill that.

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of No OneProud to be King of the Kovalnuts (Est. June 2010 by MantaRay)

Unfortunately he doesn't skate well enough to play forward. For his size he easily moved off the puck as well.(not good for either spot) In the Mark Howe article he notes how Gelinas seems off balance. He is a work in progress for sure. Hope he has a good work ethic because he is going to need it.

DeBoer's system and any heavy forecheck/puck control system requires people who can shoot the puck at the point. Gelinas has more shots/60 than anyone on this year's team. It's not just about the big slapshot - Gelinas has a very good release and he has a good wrist shot too.

Gelinas's biggest potential skill at 5 on 5 is not his shot, it's his ability to knife through the neutral zone and either lead the rush/get the puck into the zone or be available for drop passes on the rush. I'm not convinced that his decision making in this regard will ever be elite but this is an ability that players like Kurtis Foster do not possess. It's a skill that frankly NJ hasn't really had since Scott Niedermayer. It's a skill that most defensemen don't have and one that's pretty useless as a forward.

Well said.

And lets cut the kid a break for his recent defensive play. He's a rookie. There's no reason to think he won't improve.